Foraging Guide
This guide is for participants in Postcode Colour. It is an introduction to foraging for natural dye plants in the urban and peri-urban environments of Australia. You do not need prior experience — only curiosity, care, and a postcode.
The Honourable Harvest
The Honourable Harvest is a set of guidelines articulated by botanist and author Robin Wall Kimmerer in Braiding Sweetgrass. They offer a way of thinking about the relationship between harvester and harvested — one based on reciprocity rather than extraction.
- 1.Ask permission before taking. Abide by the answer.
- 2.Never take the first plant you find, and never take the last.
- 3.Never take more than half of what is there.
- 4.Take only what you need.
- 5.Take only that which is given freely.
- 6.Never waste what you have taken.
- 7.Share what you find.
- 8.Give thanks for what is given.
- 9.Sustain the ones who sustain you.
- 10.Reciprocate the gift.
Before You Forage
- —Identify the plant before you harvest. Use a field guide relevant to your region, or consult iNaturalist.
- —Collect away from roadsides, railway corridors, and land that may have been sprayed or treated.
- —Do not harvest from private property without permission.
- —Wash all plant material thoroughly before use.
- —Wear gloves when handling unfamiliar plants.
- —Do not ingest any dye plant material.
- —Take only what you need for your swatch — a small amount is usually sufficient.
- —Leave the plant in better condition than you found it where possible.
Dye Plants of Australia
The following plants are commonly found in Australia's urban and semi-rural environments and are known to produce colour. Results vary with mordant, water chemistry, and plant health. Part of the project is discovering what your postcode holds.
Yellows and Golds
Onion skins
Allium cepa
Outer skins
Year-round — a kitchen staple; very reliable
Wattle
Acacia spp.
Flowers, bark, seed pods
Spring for flowers; bark year-round — many species across Australia
Calendula
Calendula officinalis
Flowers
Summer — common in home gardens
St John's Wort
Hypericum perforatum
Flowers and leaves
Summer — widely naturalised across Australia; freely harvestable
Dyer's chamomile
Anthemis tinctoria
Flowers
Summer — a strong, reliable yellow; grow your own or source from nurseries
Fennel
Foeniculum vulgare
Leaves and flowers
Spring–Summer — widely naturalised and freely harvestable
Browns and Tans
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus spp.
Leaves, bark, bud caps
Year-round — enormous variation between species and seasons
Black walnut
Juglans nigra
Green hulls
Autumn — street trees in older suburbs; very strong colour without mordant
Oak galls
Quercus spp.
Galls
Autumn–Winter — rich in tannin; also an excellent mordant for other dyes
Avocado
Persea americana
Pits and skins
Year-round — kitchen waste; warm pinks to soft browns depending on mordant
Coffee
Coffea arabica
Spent grounds
Year-round — kitchen waste; pale tan
Pinks
Avocado
Persea americana
Pits and skins
Year-round — longer simmering and alum mordant draws out deeper pinks
Red onion skins
Allium cepa var.
Outer skins
Year-round — produces pink to mauve tones
Greens
Bracken fern
Pteridium esculentum
Young fronds
Spring — collect lightly before fronds fully unfurl
Blackberry
Rubus fruticosus
Leaves
Spring–Summer — invasive; freely harvestable along waterways and roadsides
Nettle
Urtica dioica
Leaves and stems
Spring–Summer — wear gloves; produces a muted green-gold
Japanese indigo
Persicaria tinctoria
Fresh leaves
Summer — grow your own; colour is fugitive unless vatted
Greys and Blacks
Oak gall + iron
Quercus spp.
Galls with iron modifier
Autumn–Winter — iron mordant shifts tannin-rich baths towards charcoal grey
Eucalyptus + iron
Eucalyptus spp.
Leaves with iron modifier
Year-round — iron darkens eucalyptus results considerably
Seasonal Guide — Australia
Summer — December to February
Peak foraging season. Gardens and roadsides are abundant with flowers. Onion skins, calendula, chamomile, fennel, and St John's Wort are at their most productive. Japanese indigo can be harvested from established plants. Bracken fern young growth has passed; leaves are now mature.
Autumn — March to May
The season of bark, hulls, and galls. Black walnut hulls fall in late March; collect them fresh. Oak galls are easy to find beneath English oaks in parks and older suburbs. Eucalyptus bark shedding increases in autumn. Avocado pits from summer fruit can be dried and stored.
Winter — June to August
The quietest season for foraging. Kitchen materials become the primary source — onion skins, avocado, coffee. Madder roots from established plants can be carefully harvested. Oak galls and dried materials collected in autumn carry through. A good time to prepare equipment and mordants.
Spring — September to November
Bracken fern sends up new fronds in September — collect lightly before they unfurl fully. Wattle flowers briefly and brilliantly. Blackberry and nettle leaf growth resumes along waterways and creek banks. Spring is also the time to sow Japanese indigo for summer harvest.
Safety Notes
- —Identify every plant before use. If you are uncertain, do not proceed.
- —Do not ingest any dye plant material.
- —Some plants cause contact dermatitis — wear gloves and work in a ventilated space.
- —Do not use dye pots for food preparation.
- —Keep all dye materials away from children and animals.
- —The kit provided uses alum and iron as mordants, which are generally safe when handled with care.
- —If you experience a skin reaction, wash the area thoroughly and seek medical advice if it persists.